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Protest outside Sweden’s riksdag on 2nd March |
The fact that supporters of the seriously injured Obid-kori Nazarov, and members of the People’s Movement of Uzbekistan (NDU) are participating in this chanting, is a matter of concern for some Uzbek activists.
President of the Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan (OPChU), Abdujalil Boymatov, says that he agrees with many of the demands made by the demonstrators and would join calls for an international investigation into the attempted murder of Imam Nazarov. He, too, suspects that the attempted killing was organized by the government in Tashkent.
However, Boymatov says he nevertheless doubts that there is sufficient opportunity and will among those Uzbeks living in Europe to create a free and democratic state in Uzbekistan.
“The first time I heard shouts of ‘Allah-hu Akbar’ was in Namangan in 1991 from the leader of what was to become the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IDU) Tahir Yuldash,” says Boymatov. “Now, all these years later these calls are being heard again…”
Boymatov’s concerns, he says, stem from the belief that the NDU’s founding principles include the goal of creating a democratic state in Uzbekistan. But in fact this movement has begun to demonstrate ever greater sympathy with Islamic ideology.
In Boymatov’s opinion, those who take part in the demonstrations and in the chanting of “Allah-hu Akbar” are contradicting the stated aims of the movement. “We have to judge not by what is said but by what is done,” says the OPChU president.
The People’s Movement of Uzbekistan was created in 2011 as an umbrella organisation uniting the Erk opposition party, the Tayanch organization, founded by the former prisoner Muhammadsolih Abutov, and Andijan Justice and Revival, founded by victims of the Andijan massacre on 13th May 2005. The Andijan movement has since left the NDU.
The leaders of the two remaining organizations, Erk and Tayanch, make no secret of their belief that Islam does hold the key to eradicating from society some of the poverty and injustices associated with the leadership of Islam Karimov.
The leader of Tayanch, Muhammadsolih Abutov, says that an Islamic political party does have the right to exist in Uzbekistan and to join in the struggle for power.
“I think that political entities who engage in the struggle for power should not under any circumstances use religion as a way of achieving their goals. It goes without saying that there should be religious freedom in Uzbekistan but religion should be separate from politics,” Boymatov is convinced.
In Boymatov’s view, the Islamisation of Uzbek opposition has been accompanied by some irresponsible declarations from some of its leaders.
NDU members were invited to align themselves with the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, which is included on the list of terrorist organisations drawn up by the US State Department. The IDU took a heavy beating in Afghanistan in 2001.
Muhammadsolih Abutov called on the IDU to take up weapons and unite with the NDU in the peaceful struggle against Karimov regime. This, Boymatov feels, is naïve at the very least.
“The IDU has been waging its battle in Afghanistan for more than a decade now with the stated aim of setting up a caliphate in Uzbekistan, and this has remained one of the organisation’s core commitments,” said Boymatov.
Stated commitments, recent activities and the chanting of “Allah-hu Akbar” outside the Riksdag (the Swedish parliament), Boymatov feels, show that an Islamic Uzbek opposition has emerged in Europe, and is awaiting the moment when it can return to Uzbekistan.
Asked whether there should not be an Islamic party in Uzbekistan, Boymatov says that such a party should not achieve success during a time of poverty and when the country’s education system is failing.
Uznews.net
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